The deadline for the London Arts Council project that calls on local visual artists to submit work that gets wrapped on otherwise bland-looking traffic control boxes around the city is ticking.
“What municipalities started doing many years ago is they started approaching artists to have their artwork reproduced and wrapped around these boxes just to enliven the city with art,” said Jeremy Jeresky, the curator of public programs and learning for the council.
The program is open to artists and creatives in London and surrounding First Nations to submit high-resolution digital images of their original work that gets printed onto vinyl wraps and applied to traffic light boxes. The deadline to submit is Friday at 4 p.m.
There are about 200 boxes that have been covered in the local art since the program began in 2016.
“It’s great for the city because we get to see all kinds of great art that’s reproduced. But it’s also great for the artists because they get paid $400 per image that is selected, and in addition to getting payment, the artist can use that as something for their portfolio as well,” said Jeresky. “It’s a win-win.”
Because of the temporary nature of the wraps due to maintenance on the traffic boxes and the weather, they are replaced with new artwork when required.
Local artist Aruba Mahmud, who is also a teacher in London, had a piece of her colourful and abstract artwork selected for the program in 2021. She studied art in university, then spent a number of years doing social work before rekindling her passion for creating in 2018.
“I was drawing and painting in my sketchbooks and filling them up,” she said. “Then I was making prints from those pages and selling them, and people were receptive to it, and most importantly it brings me a lot of joy.”
Her artwork that was selected by the council is a mix of watercolour, pastel and ink from her sketchbook. A digital copy was submitted to the program and is now wrapped around two traffic boxes on the corner of York and Talbot street downtown.
“I just feel like it’s a great way to support artists and give us some recognition or exposure, and it just beautifies the city.”
The call for the latest round of submissions closes on Friday at 4 p.m. For more information, visit the London Arts Council’s website.
